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[happymonster]

I've bought some Acrylic paints to use for the first time (I normally use watercolours) and should have them in a few days. What are the differences you've experienced in using them compared to watercolours or oils?

[rj]

they're less immediate but more long-term satisfying and easier to fix than watercolor (unless you're, like, a watercolor expert). anything is better than oil, oil is messy trash

[Canned Turkey]

[snip] anything is better than oil, oil is messy trash

I don't quite agree with you. Bob Ross mainly painted with oil, and his landscapes are some of the best. No medium for art is better than another, it's really about what works for you. I do agree with the fact that oil is a pain in the rear to work with though.

[muki]

less smell, easier to clean, in my experience.

but I tend to find it's harder to have bright punchy colors in acrylic, especially if you're into mixing them.

[s-spooky g-g-ghosts]

Acrylics are for everyone. Oils are for badasses. It's really hard to mess something up with acrylics and they're much more convenient than tempera.

[jtfjtfjtf]

Depends what kind of painting you're into. If you want something more "solid" than watercolors acrylics are good. Acrylics are versatile and there are a lot of auxiliary products for effects. They're also water based so they're easy to clean up than oil paints and most acrylic related products are non toxic. They don't have the working time of oils, even with extenders. Which, again, is a property that's good or bad depending on what you're going for.

I agree with Muki about intense colors. Most low to mid range acrylics have a lot of filler. It can get expensive getting higher quality acrylics.

[Carrion]

I've bought some Acrylic paints to use for the first time (I normally use watercolours) and should have them in a few days. What are the differences you've experienced in using them compared to watercolours or oils?

Acrylic dries very fast. Once you lay something down, you better be happy with it because there's no going back unless you paint over the entire canvas. That being said acrylic is also extremely versatile in what you can do with it, how safe of a substance it is, and most of all it's price. People often compare acrylic to oil by saying it's a beginner's paint while oil is an intermediate painter's groove, which is completely false. They are simply two different mediums, I started with oil and personally find it a million times easier that acrylic. I also know a lot of artists that can obtain textures with acrylic that you can't pull of with oil, despite oil being the go-to paint for impasto.

Once you get in the groove of painting with acrylic and are enjoying it, I recommend that you try out gouache paints. It's sort of a love child between acrylic and watercolor. I don't recommend jumping straight from nothing to watercolor or even acrylic to watercolor unless you're really determined to learn, because it's an unforgiving bitch.

Edit: Oh and oil is a nightmare to clean up after. A NIGHTMARE.

[happymonster]

Thank you all for your feedback!

I started with Oils as well many years ago, but even with thinners I just got fed up with the amount of time it took to dry. The problem I have with watercolours is that I tend to work more in an opaque style which is why I want to try Acrylics, and then Goache if I don't like Acrylics so much.

Oh, I agree about cleaning up after oils!

[Carrion]

Thank you all for your feedback!

I started with Oils as well many years ago, but even with thinners I just got fed up with the amount of time it took to dry. The problem I have with watercolours is that I tend to work more in an opaque style which is why I want to try Acrylics, and then Goache if I don't like Acrylics so much.

Oh, I agree about cleaning up after oils!

Yeah I'd definitely recommend gouache from what you're saying. It can act like either acrylic or watercolor depending on how much you dilute it. It can get pricey though. If push comes to shove, get poster paints. It's what most anime studios (including ghibli) use to paint their backgrounds and it's dirt cheap.

[happymonster]

Poster paints? Never would have thought of that..

I'll give Acrylics a go and see how I get on. I'm more of a portrait painter than anything else so not necessarily needing vivid colours for that.